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Voice for Equality: Patrik-Ian Polk

Patrik-Ian Polk is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, singer, and actor. Polk, who is gay, is noted for his films that explore the LGBT experience and relationships. He made his feature film directorial debut with Punks, an independent feature that he also wrote and produced. Often described as a male Waiting to Exhale, Punks had its world premiere in January 2000 at the Sundance Film Festival, as part of its American Spectrum series. The film won several awards at festivals around the world and was released theatrically in November 2001. Mr. Polk is also the creator of the TV series Noah's Arc, which made its debut on the Logo television network in October 2005. He directed a feature film version of Noah's Arc, titled Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom, which had a limited release in October 2008. Mr. Polk was honored by the LOGO network as part of its Legacy Campaign for his ground-breaking work on Noah's Arc, and as Michael Jensen wrote on AfterElton.com, "When it comes to thinking of gay men who have had a genuine impact on gay visibility, especially for gay men of color, it's pretty hard to think of someone who's had a bigger impact than Noah's Arc creator Patrik-Ian Polk." Learn more here.

See video of Mr. Polk discussing making Noah's Arc and making LGBT people of color more visible below:

Mr. Polk posed for the NoH8 (No Hate) campaign to demonstrate his support for the freedom to marry. NoH8’s Adam Bouska has photographed thousands of subjects since California passed Proposition 8 in 2008. Subjects are photographed with duct tape over their mouths to symbolize their voices not being heard on the subject of the freedom to marry. [Link]

Freedom to Marry salutes Patrik-Ian Polk as a Voice for Equality! Learn about other Voices for Equality here.